This invention relates generally to treatment of surfaces of various materials and more specifically to the stripping, cleaning and treating of various materials through the use of abrasive grit driven against the surface by fluid pressure.
Generally speaking, treatment of the surface of various materials is accomplished either through the use of mechanical smoothing techniques such as sanding or through the use of chemicals designed to strip or clean the surfaces.
An example of chemical treatment occurs in the refinishing of furniture wherein chemical solutions are used to remove the existing finish. Major problems are inherent with the use of chemicals for such purposes. They are often dangerous or irritative, and care must be used by the operators in order to avoid injury as a result of physical contact with the chemicals. Additionally, almost all chemicals give off fumes which, in some cases, can be dangerous if inhaled or if the eyes are exposed.
A further problem which arises when chemicals are used is the that of disposal. Present environmental requirements prevent the discharge of waste material in the ground or streams. Accordingly, the disposal of such waste material requires expenditure of considerable time and substantial additional expense.
Abrasive treatment of materials such as wood and metal has been accomplished through laborious hand treatment or by the use of some type of mechanical equipment. Such treatment may be used either on wood or metal and, in either case, is quite time consuming. Additionally, it is nearly impossible to strip all of the surface material if any designs exists therein which create indentations and corners.
Sandblasting has been used for certain specific instances of treating wood surfaces. Specifically, this technique has been used to remove the softer pulp material while leaving the grain of the wood standing in relief to create a certain surface texture. To our knowledge, sandblasting has never been successfully used to obtain a relatively smooth clean surface.
Sandblasting has been used for removing the finish from metals in order to prepare them for repainting or the like. Such techniques tend to pit and scratch the metal surface to such an extent that it results in an unsatisfactory finished product.
The above discussion relating to woods and metals are illustrative only since surfaces of fabric, fiberglass, glass, vinyl, rubber, etc., may also be treated using the present invention to obtain desired surface conditions.
For the above reasons as well as others that will become apparent, it will be obvious that an inexpensive, safe and relatively fast method for stripping, cleaning and treating surfaces would be highly desireable.